


Handwriting Lessons with Centi

by roseverdict



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, IT'S MILD ANGST OK, Let them be friends, ONLY ENOUGH TO ENHANCE THE FLUFF, WORM THEORY, also there's some, corrupted!steven, except not really, going on so that's fun, i just keep on adding chapters to what's supposed to be a one-shot don't i, just has some (bitter)sweet feels potential!, ksdjskxhsodi, oh well i accept my fate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-21 08:36:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21072014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseverdict/pseuds/roseverdict
Summary: In which Steven and Centi are adorable even with one of them corrupted, and then, in which the roles are swapped. (Now a three-shot with even MORE hurt/comfort! Handwriting only really comes up in Chapter 1 but oh well xD)





	1. How to Write Important Things

**Author's Note:**

> Guess who fell into the SU rabbit hole??? (All I want is some more fluff with the other Gems and yet HERE WE ARE)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which crayons help Steven cheer up Centi, and then the other way around.

While she knew her name hadn't always been Centipeetle, she supposed it was as good an identifier as any, considering…the state she found herself in.

Besides, whatever she'd once been called, she doubted she'd even recognize it now.

Of course, it helped that she'd gotten her new name from-

Steven's voice bounced into the ship, followed almost immediately by the boy himself. "CENTI CENTI CENTI CENTI CENTI!!!"

Centipeetle glanced over, her eye beaming as she squawked. "Keee-bn!"

Steven clutched a stack of papers in one hand and a box of earthcrayons in the other. "Guess what guess what guess what?"

She scuttled closer, leaning down to inspect his cargo, then tilted her head in question. "Ee-yah?"

"I convinced Pearl to teach me how to write in Gem!" Steven burst. "And, and it's not super-easy, and I knew it wouldn't be, but it's not super-hard, either! Look!"

Centi watched in amazement as Steven whipped out an earthcrayon and painstakingly drew it across one of the papers. Slowly, ever-so-deliberately, Steven's stubby organic fingers wrote out a shaky sentence in Gem.

_'My name is Steven, and Centi is my…'_

"Pearl said the word 'friend' doesn't really translate all that well into Gem language, but that's why I made my own translation!" Steven proclaimed.

The mishmash of phonetic symbols Steven had ended his sentence with didn't mean anything in the Gem language, but Centipeetle knew enough of Steven's tongue to recognize the sounds of the word "friend," even when written in Gem.

_'My name is Steven, and Centi is my friend!'_

Centipeetle's crewmates crept closer, chittering to themselves as they looked at Steven's handiwork. (Centi had tried to help them read again, but it seemed that was something reserved for her alone after being partially-healed. At least they could still tell it was meant to convey information.)

As for Centipeetle herself, well…

"Woah-hoh!" Steven laughed as she wrapped around him, tossing him up into the air so he could land on her back and be properly curled around. "I'm guessing I did good, then?"

** _Good?! Steven, you did MORE than just "good"! You amazing human gem, you!_ **

But Centipeetle had no mouth to shape her voice and no fingers to hold an earthcrayon, so she settled for nuzzling into him instead, in the hopes that the sentiment would be carried through, anyway.

"D'awww, Centipeetle!" Steven wiggled around, worming himself into her hair. (Mane? She tried not to think about it.) "I love you, too!"

Eh, close enough.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Nephrite leaned back against the wall of the main generator. Little Homeworld was finally repaired, and she couldn't wait to find Steven and celebrate with him!

And, yeah, maybe she wanted to make sure he was doing okay after…The Incident.

No, not the Spinel Incident. _The_ Incident.

With a sigh, she pushed off from the wall and made for the warp pad. She knew _she'd_ had trouble adjusting after being healed, and she'd only caused a _little_ havoc. With any luck, he'd be doing a puzzle with Pearl, or arm-wrestling Amethyst, or gallivanting through town with Garnet.

…what? Nephrite liked having her full vocabulary back!

She chuckled at the thought and waved to Biggs, activating the warp as soon as she stepped onto it.

The stream didn't take too long to drop her in the Temple, where her smile slid right off her face.

Steven didn't look up from the mess of snapped wood and torn paper in front of him. "…I can't hold pencils anymore."

Nephrite nodded in understanding as she walked into the main area of the house. "Yeah, that can be frustrating."

When she sat down beside him, Steven did look up, nearly catching one of his new horns on her arm. "I just…how are all of you able to move on from this? From what you were? From what I did?"

His pupils may not have been diamonds, but they bored into her all the same.

Nephrite sagged. "We can't. At least, not from that first part. I mean…hang on." She glanced around the messy table until she caught sight of a box of earthcrayons, still unopened. With a slight grin, she reached over and grabbed it, struggling with the flap on top for a few moments before her fingers snagged, tearing a neat line through it.

She pulled out a green earthcrayon, thicker than the ones she'd seen Steven use before, and set it on the paper. "Well, you know how corruption does weird things to Gems' minds, which then does weird things to their bodies, right?"

Steven looked away, pointedly keeping his claws out of sight. "…yeah."

"And when we were healed, because of how much you cared for us, may I add, we still had little bits of corruption visible, right?" Nephrite drew out a few different gems, in both their semi-corrupted and original forms. From a quartz to a quartz with spots and horns, to two beetle-y gems, to even the gem Steven knew best as the spiky beach ball. Even Nephrite herself, beside a version of herself with far less hair.

"Where are you going with this?" Steven asked, his lips pursing as much as they could.

She sighed. "Steven, what do every last one of these gems have in common? Besides corruption itself."

Steven thought for a moment, then shrugged, his hand going to scratch the pink spots on his arm. "I…don't know."

"It's regret, Steven." Nephrite answered for him. "After corrupting, all of us did a lot of not-so-nice things. We know in here-" she tapped the side of her head for emphasis, "-that we weren't at fault, that we hadn't known what else we could _do_, but…"

Her finger drifted forward to her eye, to her _gem._ "…emotions aren't exactly the most rational sensations out there."

She noticed Steven's own eyes go wide. Good, that meant she was getting through to him.

"And emotions tend to exacerbate corruption." She continued.

She pointed to the drawn 'Spiky Beach Ball.' "It makes your spikes spikier."

Then the beetles. "It makes your insect-iness…well, more insect-y."

The quartz. "Your horns sharper."

Herself. "Your hair more unruly."

She laughed to herself, no joy to be found. "And when you see the marks left over from the time you did something terrible, when you see them _grow,_ that doesn't help your mental state at all, which makes it worse and worse until-"

The crayon snapped.

Nephrite caught herself before she could devolve into clicks and hisses, and she took a few deep breaths. (Humans really were onto something with this whole 'breathing' thing!)

"My point is…Steven, it's always gonna be hard. But…" She looked back over at him with a smile, noting how his tusks and horns almost seemed to shrink as she watched. "…when you've got people around you who know you have scars, who _know_ you have regrets, and still want to be around you anyway?"

She dug out a few more of the thick earthcrayons, holding a pink one out to Steven. "Well, if they can see something in you worth loving, then it's gotta be in there somewhere. You just have to find it."

Steven didn't move for a second, and Nephrite almost thought she'd made it worse (which wouldn't have been good she was _trying so hard to find the right words **she can't have messed it up now!**_), but then he did move.

He reached forward and gently, lightly, tentatively (still just flexing her newly-regained vocabulary, don't mind her!) lifted the earthcrayon with his claws. He fiddled with it a bit, but soon found it fit in his hand perfectly.

"See?" Nephrite beamed. "You've already got a solid starting point!"

And then he was clinging to her.

Welp.

Nephrite pulled him into the hug, unflinching even when his claws or his horns poked into her back or her side.

His voice was muffled, and maybe even a bit choked up. "Thanks, Centi. I dunno how I can make it up to you, but-"

"Oh, Steven, you amazing human gem, you." Nephrite chuckled, pulling back so she could look him in the eyes. "You already have."

His eyes got all watery before he pulled her back in.

At some point, they had started rocking back and forth. (Not that either of them minded.)


	2. The Incident

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Centi remembers an incident, and then she lives through An Incident.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BET YALL THOUGHT I WAS DONE, DIDN'T YA?! (for the record, i also thought i was done but YEET)

It was a little while after Steven visited with the earthcrayons.

Centipeetle didn't feel like greeting Steven when he came in. This, of course, didn't sit well with him.

"Heyyy, Centi!" Steven swept into the ship, stars in his eyes and a laugh in his smile, only for both to fade upon seeing the state of the ship.

Centipeetle's crewmates were skittering around a mostly-empty spot in the far corner, quietly clicking. One of the nearer ones glanced over at Steven's entrance, and she squawked a quick note in greeting before looking back to the whatever-it-was.

"Oh, uh, hi, Centi's friend." Steven managed, stepping closer and standing on tiptoe, trying to get a better view. "What's…what's going on?"

At Steven's question, the crew glanced at each other before clearing a path for him, leading directly to-

"Centi?" Steven's breath caught. "What's wrong?"

At his voice, Centi looked up, only to shudder and duck her head back into the tightly-wound coil of her body. Her hair stuck out in all directions, but she made no move to do anything except sulk.

Steven and one of the Crewtipeetles (Centi's first mate, perhaps?) gave each other a worried look, and Steven took another step forward. "Did something happen, Centi? Do you want me to come over there?"

Centi didn't answer, save for curling up even tighter.

One of the Crewtipeetles hissed to get Steven's attention, drawing him into the strangest game of charades the world may ever have.

The 'Peetle with the bushiest hair (after Centi) reared up, as if to attack the smaller 'Peetles below.

"Uhhh…something attacked the ship while I was gone?" Steven guessed.

The bushy 'Peetle clicked at him in denial, then three of the little 'Peetles scuttled to "hide" behind the control panel, while the fourth one picked up a piece of rubble in her back pincers.

Steven squinted as pieces started falling into place. "Hey, wait a minute…"

The smallest 'Peetle chirped at him as the "attacker" laid siege to the "hiding" 'Peetles. With a mighty grunt, she flung the debris in the direction of the others, and while it missed by a wide margin, the "attacker" still reared back and shivered in place, almost as if _being shocked by-_

"The Cookie Cat freezer." Steven gasped. "But that was from when-!"

Centi keened, and Steven turned back around to face her. "You, uh…remembered that, huh?"

Centipeetle just looked away, acid dribbling down the side of her mouth.

"Oh, Centi…" Steven walked closer, slowly raising a hand to rub along her back the way his dad would whenever _he_ was upset. "I'm sorry for throwing that freezer at-"

Centi squawked indignantly, temporarily broken from her melancholy at the mere idea that _that_ was what had made her so upset.

"Wait, it's _not_ about the freezer?" Steven froze, trying to shift gears. "Then, what…?"

The other 'Peetles grabbed his attention again, this time to have the "attacker" loom menacingly over the smallest 'Peetle.

Oh.

_Oh._

Steven glanced back at Centi. "This is about attacking us that one time, isn't it?"

This time, she made no move to deny it.

Steven sighed, sitting down and leaning up against her side. "Yeah, if it were me, I'd probably be all sulky, too. _'I can't believe I did that to my friend!'_ That's what you're thinking, right? Or at least it's close?"

Centi keened again, which Steven took as a yes.

"Well, you were probably freaking out at the time, right?" He continued, shifting in place to get a better look at the top of Centi's head. "But when I popped your bubble later on, once you _weren't_ freaking out, it was a lot easier to be friends, right?"

Centipeetle clicked quietly, lifting her head just a bit.

"That just means that the 'you' that attacked the Temple isn't who you really are!" Steven explained, eyes sparkling. "Emotions are kinda crazy, but the other day, Garnet had a talk with me and Connie about saying _'yes indeedy this is a thought,'_ then letting it go. When you have a lot of bad thoughts, they can make you lose touch with the world around you, and you might fall off a cliff, or break someone's arm, or attack someone who wants to be friends."

Centipeetle's head tilted, as if trying to reconcile the idea of hurting someone with her friend Steven.

"So uh. Yeah. It sucks that that happened. Not gonna deny it." Steven kept going, reaching back and idly scritching Centi. "But y'know what? That's in the past now. It's not something that's gonna happen again. And, for what it's worth…"

He turned his trademark grin to Centi. "…I forgive you."

Centi keened for a third time, but unlike before, followed it up by uncurling and rubbing up against Steven's side.

Steven's grin faded ever-so-slightly, and he wrapped his arms around as much of her neck(?) as possible. "No matter what, you're still a great friend, Centi, and I'm not giving up on you."

〜〜〜〜〜〜

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up, I must have misheard you."

Nephrite _knew_ she'd misheard them. There was no possible way!

"I _really_ don't think you did." Amethyst's voice didn't crack, but it was a near thing.

Nephrite shared a look with her crewmates. Their own memories of corruption were hazy things, evaporating whenever they tried to take a closer look, but if they remembered anything from it at all…

"We have to help him somehow." Nephrite declared. It wasn't a question.

"How?!" Peridot exploded, pacing through the air on her trash can lid. "After he wr-…after he wrecked the square, he stomped off to who-knows-where and vanished! Literally! One second we could see him, then a big dust cloud blocked our view, and then he was gone! There's not even anything to hide him behind over there! Where did-!"

"Peridot." Garnet's voice cut through the explanation before it could turn into a rant.

"-right. Sorry." She took a breath before continuing. "My point is, we have no clue where he could be. Even Garnet's future vision isn't helping, since he could be in any number of places, and the potential futures all split off after we start planning to look for him!"

"Then let's get looking." Nephrite nodded to her crew. "We'll search in town, and we can send you all a message if we find him."

Garnet jolted, then looked down to where Connie stood beside her. "You should join them, Connie."

This, too, was not a question.

Connie gaped for a moment before nodding. "Yes, ma'am." She jogged up beside Nephrite and tried to quell her shaking hands.

Pearl was faring no better. "A-alright, then, if we're ready to, to get to work?"

"I'm gonna join up with Lazuli and Bis, we can search from the sky." Peridot decided, already wheeling around and zipping off to what remained of the windmill generator.

Garnet nodded, her hands in fists, only the quiet clinking of metal bands on her gems betraying her nerves. "Pearl, Amethyst, and I will search the places he may think to go."

"Right."

"Gotcha."

The three turned to head for Beach City and the Temple Warp, but Garnet paused a moment longer, calling over her shoulder, "You may want to start at the new Forge and head southwest from there."

Connie and Nephrite glanced at each other, eye(s) wide.

When they turned back to ask her, Garnet was gone, jogging up behind Amethyst and Pearl as if she'd said nothing strange whatsoever.

"Welp." Connie managed, clutching her sheathed sword like a stuffed animal instead of a weapon. "To the Forge?"

"…Yeah." Nephrite eventually agreed. "Let's go."

The group of 3 (Nephrite's first mate had split off with most of the others to search for poofed and cracked gems) picked through the wreckage until reaching what had once been the Little Homeworld Forge.

Once they made sure no vulnerable gems were nearby, they resolved not to tell Bismuth until _after_ they found him. One disaster at a time, and all that.

"Garnet said to head southwest, right?" Nephrite's crewgem asked, glancing around nervously as if he would rear up from the shadows and shatter them all.

"Yes, 42." Nephrite placed a hand on her shoulder, offering what assurance she could. "She may have foreseen greater danger from us going a different direction, or perhaps something good happening if we went that way. Either way, it was in everyone's best interests for us to head southwest. We'll be okay."

"Right, right, I knew that…" Cabochon 42 nodded, shaking herself out of a panic attack just in time.

"And, and she said I should accompany you, too." Connie added, taking 42's hand in her own. "That's two future-vision tidbits of wisdom for us, and none we know of for the others! Whatever we have to go southwest for, it _must_ be important, or she wouldn't have mentioned it, and it _has_ to be relatively safe, or she wouldn't have had me tag along!"

42 kept nodding, then cracked a grin and ruffled Connie's hair. "You know, you're not half bad, Connie."

Nephrite hadn't realized humans were capable of glowing until that moment. Well, not literally, but the turn of phrase was surprisingly close to the truth.

The moment was cut short when something groaned, a deep, rumbling sound that shook what remained of the Forge apart.

It had come from the southwest.

Connie's head snapped up _(were organics supposed to bend their necks so fast?!)_ just before she dashed towards the source of the sound.

"Connie, wait!" Nephrite shrieked, sprinting after her with 42 on her heels.

Connie wove between chunks of buildings with an agility born of hard work and being just a _liiittle_ shorter than Nephrite. She didn't catch up until Connie skidded to a stop, pinwheeling her arms to try and avoid falling into a brand-spankin'-new, gargantuan sinkhole.

Nephrite grabbed hold of her shoulder and yanked her back onto solid ground before she processed what she was seeing.

There he was, huge and spiked and pink and sharp and-

-shaking.

Oh, stars, he was _shaking._

He made no move to get up, or to threaten anyone, or to bring down more of the city. The way he shuddered all over proved that he wasn't physically injured. If he wanted to, he could climb out of the sinkhole and just keep destroying everything around him.

But he curled into himself, pressing against the far side of the sinkhole and holding his tail away from them, as if it would thrash instead of shiver and smack them across town.

Connie's hands had risen to her mouth by the time Nephrite stopped staring, and 42 had wrapped her arms around herself almost tight enough to poof her right then and there.

And Nephrite?

She leapt down to a broken section of pipe, perching on it for a moment before dropping to the next.

Connie followed a moment later, with heavier footsteps just as sure as Nephrite's, and 42 cautiously copied her.

He looked up at the sounds, his eyes (dark with pink light, not a reassuring black-on-white) widening a fraction before he pulled his tail closer, almost curling into a ball to avoid looking at them.

His shuddering grew strong enough to shake the ground around them.

"Hey, Steven, it's just us." Connie kept her voice soft and calm, slowly standing up when she reached the bottom of the sinkhole. "Just me, and Centi, and Centi's friend, 42."

Steven (for it really _was_ Steven, wasn't it? _How had nobody known he was doing so badly?_) rumbled, his voice as high-pitched as it could go and yet _still_ shaking Nephrite's gem.

"Yeah, this isn't exactly an optimal hangout time, is it?" Connie chuckled, only her face giving away how much the sight hurt her. "Do you mind if we join you over there?"

Steven pressed himself further into the earthy wall behind him, shaking loose a few stray pebbles.

"Th-that's alright, Steven." Connie swallowed. "We can just sit here and hang out."

He shook his head, using one of his new arms to point back to Little Homeworld.

Nephrite stepped forward. "No can do, Steven. From what Pearl's research into corruption had to say, humans have something that does similar things to their minds called 'depression,' and if what I heard about _that_ is true, feeling alone in times like these is a bad idea. We don't have to be right in your personal space, but we're not about to leave you alone when you're hurting. You're our best friend, Steven, and we're not giving up on you. Not now, and not ever."

Steven stopped shaking, though the ground beneath them did not. Nephrite chalked it up to aftershocks.

He loosened his grip on his tail, actually _looking_ at them.

Connie, sword in hand but nowhere _near_ unsheathing it, eyes wide and wet and pleading.

Cabochon 42, nervously shifting from foot to foot, but refusing to run away from her leader and friend.

Nephrite, hair frazzled but eye unblinking as she craned her head up to meet his gaze.

For a second, it seemed he was baring his teeth in a show of aggression, but then he whined. If he still could, his eyes likely would have had rivers flowing by now.

Nephrite stepped closer.

Steven didn't pull back.

"Remember when you came to visit me and my crew, and I was sulking in the corner?" Nephrite asked. "You told me about what Garnet had taught you? About emotions being hard to control, and about recognizing thoughts and letting them go?"

Steven clutched his tail tighter again, but didn't look away.

"So, yeah, you accidentally did some not-good things because you were freaked out." Nephrite gave him a knowing look. "I'd be freaking out too."

Catching on, Connie joined in, "But you're _Steven._ Not Pink Diamond: The Sequel. Not a mindless, rampaging monster. _Steven._ The two of us make Stevonnie. You're my Jam Bud. You're my _best friend!_"

"Y-you're the one who brought the Gem Empire into a new era of peace and prosperity, but, but you're still a kid!" 42 added, forcing her voice to keep steady. "If you're feeling overwhelmed, you have every right to ask for help! You don't have to do it all alone!"

"Steven, you're always offering to be a shoulder to cry on, but please…" Nephrite swallowed down the lump in her throat. "…let us be there for you, too. We love you for more than just the things you do. We love you for _you._"

Steven couldn't help himself.

He lifted his head, and from the terrifying, gaping maw came a wail of anguish so loud it could be heard all the way at the Temple.

And then Nephrite realized _the ground had never stopped shaking._

The same thought flashed across Connie's mind almost simultaneously.

42 was halfway through finishing the thought when the earth beneath her gave way.

Nephrite snatched her hand before she could disappear into the shadows, but the sinkhole-within-the-sinkhole kept growing, and then it was Connie's hand keeping her between the surface and the shadowy unknown.

But the sinkhole-within-the-sinkhole kept growing.

Connie scrambled backwards, clinging to Nephrite's hand with one growing slick with sweat, and Nephrite could feel her fingers start to slip, and she was already trying to calculate how best to fall to protect 42 from injury, her own gem taking second priority because _a captain puts her crew first-_

A low (panicked) bark pierced Nephrite's train of thought just before something big and _pink_ wrapped around Connie's waist and pulled her up and away from the ever-growing pit.

Nephrite's eye went wider than she'd thought was possible when she saw Steven's tail continue lifting, then gently set them all on his back.

_But the sinkhole-within-the-sinkhole kept growing._

Steven's eyes flicked from place to place on the rock wall before him for the briefest moment, and then he pounced.

Claws nearly as long as Connie was tall (hadn't they been longer?) dug into the rock, just as stubby organic fingers and hooked gem fingers clung to the spikes along Steven's back for purchase.

The sinkhole hadn't looked this deep from above.

Steven's wail had drawn the attention of others in Little Homeworld, if the sounds of voices and footsteps was any indication.

** _But the sinkhole-within-the-sinkhole kept growing._ **

Connie glanced down against her better judgement, and while she did gasp and hold tighter, it wasn't from fear of heights alone.

The places where Steven's claws had been _were growing shallower by the second._

Before that thought could be taken to its wonderful conclusion at the worst of times, the world under them shifted, and suddenly Steven was sprawled out on flat ground beside the original sinkhole, and then Nephrite slid to the ground (much closer than it had been when she was first set on Steven's back) and rushed up to his head.

Connie and 42 followed just behind her, and as they caught sight of the Little Homeworlders over the top of Steven's back, they realized _he was shrinking._

"STEVEN!"

Connie had meant to be the one to say it, so she startled when Pearl's voice cut her off.

Steven looked up, eyes wide and blazing with terror.

And, as Nephrite looked closer, perhaps a flicker of hope.

Pearl didn't hesitate to fling herself forward, giving Nephrite, Connie, and 42 a quick once-over before she collided with Steven's head, now barely as tall as she was.

As Pearl sagged against the constantly-dulling horns, Amethyst and Garnet came racing into view.

Amethyst was moving too fast to get a glimpse of her face through her hair, but Garnet paused for just a second, her visor vanishing as a teary smile came to her face.

And then she joined the hugpile surrounding a still-shrinking Steven.

The extra pair of arms coming out of Steven's ribcage shrank even faster than the rest of him, disappearing in a small flash of pink light. The tail was quick to follow suit.

A thump shook the ground, but only for a second, and then Bismuth was there, checking him over for injuries and then holding him tight once she knew he was alright.

"TACTICAL HUG, INCOMING!"

Peridot's shout was the only warning any of them got before her trash can lid went flying into the distance and Peridot herself landed on top of the group.

Connie started laughing, even though her face was still wet, and then Steven started laughing, quieter than usual and with an extra rumble _but still a Steven-y laugh,_ and then they were all laughing and holding each other and if there were spontaneous fusions between some of them, who could blame them?

Once the hugpile had just about hugged itself out, and once Lapis had given Stevonnie a once-over and pulled them into a tight hug for a moment, and once Opal had unfused and Pearl had led the entire procession back to the Temple, and once it was just the Crystal Gems and Nephrite…

Well, that's what Nephrite assumed had happened. She'd been too emotional to take it in as more than a blur.

Regardless of how they'd gotten there, it was just that core group inside Steven's house now. She could tell from the noise outside that the others hadn't left, and they were probably planning the party to outparty all parties, but they weren't her main focus.

"…and then Steven pulled them all out of the sinkhole, which threw Connie for a loop until she snapped out of her thoughts, aaand…that's when you guys showed up." Stevonnie finished, nervously drumming newly-tapered nails on their legs. "You saw the rest."

"Oh, Stevonnie…" Pearl murmured. "No wonder this happened…"

Garnet laid her hand on their shoulder. "If we'd only considered how much stress you were under…but that's in the past. You have all of us, and we'll always be here for you. _Always._ And now you know it."

"Right." Stevonnie nodded. "And if Steven starts pulling this again, I'll bug him until he _has_ to tell me, or so help me, I'll-"

In a flash of light, Stevonnie split, and Steven pulled his torn-up shirt over his face. (How was it still in mostly one piece, anyway?) "Connieeeee!"

"I said what I said!" She crossed her arms and lifted her chin, but a playful smile found its way to her face. "We're Jam Buds, and we can't have jam without the biscuit! So if the biscuit starts feeling bad about not being more like the jam, then the jam's gonna go find him and tickle some sense into him!"

"Tickle?!" Steven's eyes widened, but still crinkled up at the edges.

"Yeah!" Connie declared, making wiggly fingers and leaning closer. "So don't make me break out the big guns, alright?"

Steven laughed, though he stopped almost as soon as he started. The deeper, chesty rattle was still there.

Connie threw an arm around his shoulder anyway, mirrored by Nephrite on the other side. "You're still Steven."

Nephrite nodded in agreement. "No amount of spikes are gonna change that."

And for the first time in ages, Steven really, truly smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one wound up being longer than the first, but yknow what, I like it, so we're using it! (may be a bit cheesy but HECK THAT NOISE, STEVEN DESERVES FLUFF AND COMFORT)


	3. Prologue End/Epilogue Begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Centi takes a bath, and then Steven has a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back, back again
> 
> back online
> 
> tell a friend
> 
> (or don't w/e aodhsjdnskdjsl)

Centi hadn't seen Steven in a while. After he visited with the two giant women (she _knew_ those gems, but their names escaped her, even after having the fog on her mind lifted again), he hadn't come by again.

Understandably, she was somewhat concerned.

Then the door opened.

"Heeey, Centi, guess who's back!"

She squawked and leapt from her spot on the ceiling, squirming for a moment to get her legs back under her before scurrying to bump her head against him. "KEEE-BN, KEEE-BN!"

Steven laughed and held up a handful of Chaaaps for her while he turned to face the others he'd come with.

Wait.

Centi scarfed down the last Chaaap and stared up at the two giants from before, and the third one who towered over even the other two.

The sound she made was supposed to be a squawk, but it came out strangled.

Steven was talking and gesturing to Centi, but she didn't process any of it. Her mind was too busy scrambling to find something, _anything,_ to help her work out just how she knew these gems, and why they were so important.

The Blue one gasped and spoke to the others, an idea having struck.

(Why did giving their colors extra importance feel so right?)

Steven seemed to agree with whatever the Blue gem had said, and he turned to Centi. She hurried to focus; she had a hunch that the next few minutes would be important. "D'ya wanna get your crew together? We're gonna go on a field trip and help you guys get better again!"

Better? As in, clear away the clutter in their minds that wasn't meant to be?

Centi clicked and bumped her head against Steven again before scuttling back inside, calling for the others.

Bushy (as Steven had nicknamed her after the game of charades) was the first to respond, and after a quick, clicking back-and-forth, the two of them got the others together and out the door.

(The White gem seemed distraught at the sight, or maybe just confused. If she'd had shoulders, Centi would've shrugged it off. It wasn't exactly like she'd have any control over it any time soon.)

(Then again, maybe she would…)

Steven led them all to the Warp, almost buzzing from excitement. "Ooh, I can't wait! With all four of us here, we might just make this work!"

Warp space shone all around for a single infinite moment, and then they were elsewhere.

"Centi, I'm gonna go get changed really quick." Steven explained, handing off his bag of Chaaaps to his purple friend. "Amethyst can hang out with you guys for a bit, right?"

Centi chirped and rested her head on the purple one's…er, Amethyst's.

Steven beamed and hurried off to somewhere out of sight, calling for the Yellow, Blue, and White gems to follow.

Amethyst grinned and pulled out a Chaaap. "So, who wants a snaaack?"

Bushy squawked and scuttled forward, happily munching away on the treat and following Amethyst as she backed into the new, walled-in area. The others were quick to follow them, though Centi was not. She climbed the wall for a better view, and what she saw nearly brought tears to her eye.

Within the walls, a pool sprawled out, filled with bubbles and gems. As she watched, Steven reappeared, now in yellow shorts. He gestured to the giant gems he'd come with, and they cautiously sat down in the water.

A moment later, Steven himself leapt into the pool, and the first of the bubbles popped.

And then Bushy broke the surface, looking more like herself than Centi thought possible.

For the second time that day, she managed a strangled note of surprise.

Amethyst hopped up on the wall beside her, holding the bag of Chaaaps and smiling. "You wanna go join 'em?"

Centi…

…wasn't sure she was ready.

Seeing her hesitation, Amethyst pulled one of the last Chaaaps from the bag. "Well, d'ya think you want one of these?"

Now there's a question she knew the answer to!

Amethyst laughed and chucked the bag into the water. "Then go get 'em!"

Without further ado, Centi leapt from the wall, wholly focused on the bag until she hit the surface, and then

she

could

_see._

〜〜〜〜〜〜

_run_

_that's all you can do, just run_

run

_run, and hope it doesn't find you_

_run, and hope you don't find it_

_run and don't look back_

_don't look back for fear of slowing_

_look back_

_it's not there_

_it never was_

_it's shaking_

_it's curled around its stomach and clutching at itself_

he's curled around his stomach and clutching at his gem

_he's big and spiked and pink and-_

_-shaking._

_oh, stars, he's **shaking.**_

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Nephrite sat bolt upright in bed, gasping for air she really didn't need.

So _that's_ what a nightmare felt like.

It had been a week since she'd visited Steven, and a good long while since The Incident, but even so…

_oh, stars, he's **shaking**_

…it still felt raw.

Her first mate, 39, glanced over. "Sleeping not all it's cracked up to be?"

Nephrite cracked a smile at that, forcing her breathing to slow. "Heh, not tonight, it wasn't."

"Well, if you're not up for trying again tonight, y'think you might wanna help me out with this?" 39 turned around the thing in her hands and held it up.

Steven's smiling face stared out at her from its place on the banner, angular lines in peaches and browns and-

_pink and **shaking**_

-Nephrite suddenly didn't want to look.

"Maybe in the morning?" She asked. "I kinda wanna see what it's like to wake up and see the sun already up."

39 shrugged. "Alright, suit yourself." She stood up, stretched, and headed into the other room. "Hey, 42, you wanna help with this banner for the party?"

Nephrite chuckled to herself and laid back down. Maybe she'd have a good dream…this…time.

〜〜〜〜〜〜

**The odds are against us, this won't be easy, but we're not going to do it alone!**

〜〜〜〜〜〜

_run_

_that's all you can do, just run_

wait

_you can't_

_what are you_ doing

you can't turn around!

_But she does._

_She turns around, and just like before, he isn't there._

_But he is._

_And he's **shaking.**_

_She takes a step forward, eye wide and hair sticking out in every direction, but as dreams often are, she knows something she really shouldn't be able to._

_Namely, he doesn't want to hurt anyone._

"Still not feeling too good, huh?"

_He looks up, and in the way of dreams, she finds herself at eye level with him._

"…no, not really."

_His voice is nothing but a low grumble, shaking the fabric of the mindscape (that's what this was, wasn't it?), but the words still carry through._

_She laughs, not happy in the slightest, and coils around him in a body she no longer calls her own._

"We can feel not-good together, then."

_He seems taken aback._

"Wait, what do you-?"

_A new voice calls their names, and they look over._

_His other half comes running up, her hair longer than it had been in a while._

"I knew my dreams were overlapping with yours again!"

_He looks away._

"That's what this is, isn't it? I'm sorry-!"

"You don't have to be."

_The two share a look and a giggle as they realize they said the same thing at the same time._

"Yo, my dudes, are we having a dream party over here?"

_Yet another joins them, purple hair shorter than it had been in millenia. (Or months, if they want to get technical.)_

_The green one clicks and waves her question off._

"Nah, it just sorta happened like this. I was dreaming, but now I'm aware of it, and then I came up here, and then you two showed up."

_The purple bursts out laughing and jumps up onto his head._

"Sounds like a dream party to me! We can mess around in here until morning, then go to the party-party once we wake up!"

_His other half giggles and joins them, her sunhat falling into the void below._

"Sure! What do you think?"

_He snorts, laughs, both low and rumbling and high and wheezing._

"Yeah, okay. Dream party! Why not?"

_The green one coils back around all three of the others, content._

"This is a lot nicer than running away, anyhow."

_The purple raises a can of soda in the air. (Where she got it when she's sitting on his head, none of them know.)_

"Or hiding in my hole!"

_The other half chuckles and curls up between his head and one of his tusks._

"Or sitting on the beach with nobody but a book!"

_He chuffs, placing his head between two clawed hands like the world's biggest puppy._

"Or keeping everything bottled up."

"Hear, hear!"

_The purple raises her can higher, in a toast. In response, the other three lift their own cans from the void, and as they go to take a sip-_

〜〜〜〜〜〜

Nephrite snapped awake to 39's excited shaking. "C'mon, Captain, today's the day!"

She slapped her forehead and stifled a groan. "I'm up, I'm up."

"Sorry, good dream?" 39 had the sense to back off, thank goodness.

"Yeah, but…" Nephrite blinked as an idea came to her, and she grinned. "…I might just have a way to bring it into reality."

"Huh?"

Nephrite leapt from the bed and called over her shoulder. "I'm grabbing some Chaaaps from the store! I'll catch you at the party, alright?"

39 laughed and put a hand to her forehead. "Pffft, alright, Captain. See you there!"

Nephrite beamed and rushed out the door, dashing past gems and humans alike until reaching the grocery store, and even then, she only slowed to make sure she didn't pass the Chaaaps.

Or the soda aisle.

"So Dream-Centi was you?"

Nephrite turned at Connie's voice and smiled. "Eeyup. My first mate got a bit overexcited, not that I can blame her for it, but I figured I'd bring over some soda so we can finish that toast."

Connie laughed, holding up her own shopping basket. "I guess we'll have a lot of soda at the party, then!"

Nephrite laughed with her and joined her on her trek to the registers, where the cashier blinked for a moment before shrugging off the strangeness of seeing a sword-wielding teenager laugh with a one-eyed gem.

It's not like they hadn't seen weirder, after all.

As soon as they stepped outside, Connie whistled, and Lion padded around the corner as if it was completely normal for a pink lion to be hanging around the grocery store.

Then again, for them, it _was_ normal.

"Need a lift?" Connie asked, throwing her leg over Lion's back as if it was no big deal.

"I sure won't turn one down!" Nephrite joined her after only a moment's deliberation.

Connie beamed and turned back around. "Alright, Lion, to Steven's house!"

He stood up, gave his mane a shake, and roared, the light blinding Nephrite for a second before her eye adjusted-

-and they leapt into the light.

A quick flash of lights and colors and shapes later, Lion landed on soft sand, slowing as he neared the Temple.

Amethyst looked up from the cooler in her hands at the sound, and she grinned. "Heya, guys! We were wondering where you two went!"

Connie shrugged and slid off Lion's back, reaching into her bag. "My alarm went off pretty much right after Centi's first mate woke her up, but we both had the same idea."

Nephrite hopped to the ground just behind her, pulling her own pack of sodas out of her bag almost as soon as Connie did the same. "We never did get to finish that toast."

Amethyst froze, then bent over cackling. "Oh my-gahahahaha!"

"I don't get it." Nephrite stated.

Amethyst's answer was to open the cooler, where even _more_ sodas bobbed in ice water.

Connie's eyes blew wide as she slapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh.

Nephrite had no such reservations, snorting once before laughing freely.

The sound of a door opening broke through the moment, and they turned to see Steven with _yet another pack of sodas_ under his arm.

He stood statue-still for a moment, trying to process the sight of all three "Dream Partiers" on the beach.

Then Nephrite held up a can of soda, and Connie tucked her box under her own arm, and Amethyst turned the open cooler to show him its contents, and he laughed.

"Oh, just get down here already, you big goof!" Connie called.

"We need to have that toast before the others wake up and start setting up for the other party!" Amethyst added.

"We've got lots of soda, in case one can isn't enough!" Nephrite needled.

(Ah, vocabulary, you glorious thing, you.)

Steven wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. "Alright, alright, I'm coming down there! Don't drink it all without me!"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Connie lifted an eyebrow, a cheeky grin overtaking her face as the others caught her double-meaning and laughed.

That was how the others found them, once they stepped outside to watch the sun rise and saw them already on the beach.

Amethyst lay sprawled out on the sand, her feet pointing inland and her head to the ocean.

Nephrite lay on her stomach beside her, propped up by her elbows and idly sipping a can of soda.

Between them, Steven sat cross-legged, watching the first slice of sunlight rise above the horizon.

Leaning into his side for support, though perhaps they leaned into each other, Connie heaved a content sigh.

_Here's to being more than our origins._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's why the people of this world believe in all the Crystal Gems, including Steven!
> 
> THIS REALLY IS IT THIS TIME (I THINK) CUZ IF I KEEP GOING LIKE THIS SOON IT'LL BE NOTHING BUT CHEESE SOXHAJDBSKDJSKXKSKDK

**Author's Note:**

> i diagnose beach city with depression. please see a therapist.
> 
> also editing is for weenies skxbskxks


End file.
